ROLÉ PELO RIO HACKEADO

DEVELOPED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LABORATORY OF THE NEW TOMORROW MUSEUM IN RIO, THE EXHIBITION WAS INSPIRED BY THE NAIF WORK OF THE AUTO MECHANIC LUIS OLIVEIRA.

Luis builds models of the city of Rio with bits and lefts-overs from his Machine Shop, re-imagining in his own way details of Rio’s urban landscape. Together with the models the show exhibited projects that hacks streets, squares and other public sites on the city of Rio. A damp transformed into a public garden, a website where anyone can offer its walls for public art and alternative routes for cycling in Rio, are some of the exemples.

The word Gambiarra could be translated as vernacular design. This concept was the main inspiration for the design of the space. We wanted to explore how objects can assume different functionalities through the hands of the people on the streets, away from a formal design process. The exhibition design aimed to create an environment that incited the audience to act and change its own city.

We divided the 80 m2 space in 6 areas following curatorial narrative, which was based on 3 different models from Luis Oliveira (Urca, Rocinha and Lapa neighbourhoods). One of the biggest challenges was to present Luis' works. We designed a display that would hide the wires and mechanics under it, with a thin veil in front of model. The veil not only protected the pieces from curious visitors, but also enhanced the grotesque delicacy of Oliveira’s work.

As for the last part of the show we’ve hung many clothing with posters containing messages for changing the city, taking advantage of the high ceiling and the big windows.

About

For the last 13 years, we have been creating critical narrative exhibitions, aligning academic research with contemporary art, design, architecture, literature and music. The studio is known for its popular and provocative approach to exhibition experience, putting together different languages and cultural backgrounds in order to bring a diverse audience to museums.

More than 10 exhibitions, music and circus festivals, and a Multiplatform project for historical communication (Rolé Carioca), brought many artists from around the world to different cultural venues and territories in the city of Rio.

With great media and audience feedback, studio M’Baraká curated and produced exhibitions at venues such as CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil), Museum of Tomorrow,CRAB (Center for Design And Crafts Sebrae), Gallery of The National Bank of Social Development and Museu Nacional (Natural History Museum of Rio).

It is a word of indigenous origin, from the Tupi Guarani Ethnicity, which literally means the sound of maracas (a handmade musical instrument). In the Tupi mythology it represents the Genesis.

P: What is the relationship between culture and design in the studio? How does it work in the day-to-day?

R:

Culture, as an anthropological concept, encompasses the entire material, immaterial, linguistic, behavioral and all forms of expressions and semiotic recognition of a group. Increasingly global, but undoubtedly still preserving local peculiarities, culture is what, in fact, unites a particular group of people. Whether within projects with local or global content, Design greatly assists the strategic and appropriate communication between the target audience and the conceptual and artistic precepts of the project. Design is an important part of the contemporary material culture. In our day-to-day at the studio, the design team is part of the creative and curatorial team of some of our projects and there isn’t much separation between the creation of projects and Design creation, there is a great synergy between curators, creators, idealizers, artists and designers. THIS SYNERGY IS PART OF OUR DIFFERENTIAL.

P: What is Design in the Context of M’Baraká’s Projects?

R:

We understand Design as a broader concept of visual and spatial communication. We work in a multidisciplinary way in design, blending concepts of product design, interface, graphic design and environment design, heeding more broadly to the communication needs of a cultural project. The more is the complexity of a design project, the more is the team of professionals involved: architects, scenographers and programmers are usually added to the house’s team.

P: At Virei Viral project, and in many others, you speak of Contemporary Culture. What is contemporary to you?

R:

For us, contemporary means everything that dialogues with the time/space we live in. A historical content can, undoubtedly, receive a contemporary treatment. For this reason, we use creative interfaces; spend a lot of time in research, curatorship, art-direction and communication strategies; in order to provide a real enjoyment of what we propose in the projects. And we believe that only in this way, speaking the language of our time, we can connect people and content.

P: How do I submit my artwork to you?

R:

Send us an email. We work a lot with projects teams format and we are always open to meet new producers, suppliers, artists, designers and other members of our production chain. If we are not in an extremely busy moment, and if our interaction flows well, we will certainly call you for a coffee in our M’Barakhouse! Send your email to mbaraka@mbaraka.com.br!

P: What is the mission and vision of M’Baraká

R:

Mission: To promote experiences that generate knowledge and value.
Vision: To be recognized as a company that distinguishes itself by the articulation of knowledge, people, languages and aesthetics, with a commitment to provide society with multiple experiences, attached in cultural diversity, in the arts, design and in partnerships with creative professionals and investors.

P: Do you work only with sponsorships? What do you think of the cultural incentive laws?

R:

Like most cultural producers in Brazil, we work primarily with sponsorships via incentive law. However, we notice that there are private initiatives that invest in culture with its own resources. We acknowledge the various incentive laws, however, we believe that the laws cannot become a market’s addiction, nor an excluding mechanism. It’s a long way until the brands, in Brazil, see art and culture as important agents in the relation with society, but we believe that by following public policies and presenting results to investors, we can change this reality and dream of a time when art and culture are seen as a real priority in the relation with society.

P: Does the studio have operations outside Brazil?

R:

This is a project that we are implementing to be achieved in the medium term. In two years time, we want to tour with some projects outside Brazil and also bring foreign projects to South America. There fore, we are looking for international partnerships.

P: How do you work together with artists?

R:

Working with artists is the essence of our work making process. For us it is important, whenever possible, to establish a greater degree of dialogue between the artist’s work and the specific project or curation that we are developing in the moment. We don’t work by touting artists (musicians, visual artists, actors, etc.), and we are not an art gallery. Our goal is to contextualize art careers and works of art within projects, always concerned with the quality of the work’s presentation in the context of the projects, seeking to cause sensorial experiences in the public.

P: Are you familiar with the concept of brand experience?

R:

Yes and no. We were born with the desire to create experiences. Our first brand signature was “relevant experiences” and we are really attached to the concept of this expression in our mission. We believe that the association of experiences of content, companies and brands from different sectors is able to express values ​​with much more relevance, while at the same time, inform and transmit knowledge. Therefore, in our vision, experience has to have curated content, strategically aligned with brand values. If you have only a logo and brand graphics, it doesn’t touch the associative memory of the target audience.